The sky was blue, the air was crisp and the sun was shining gloriously. No clouds could be seen in the sky, it was clear and it was blue and birds could be heard chirping. It was spring, so it was warm and the air was fresh and it smelled like flowers and green grass.
Spring symbolizes rebirth, life, growth. And purity among all. Pure. That was exactly how Nina and Ian would describe their little daughter. She was pure, innocent, trusting, vulnerable, disparately needy, a new person, who has heard the world only from the inside through water, now submerged into a world of lights and noise, listening for the familiar voice of her mother.
Elena Panola Somerhalder was beautiful. The name Elena meant sun ray or shining light and that was what Nina and Ian saw in their daughter. She had beautiful bright blue eyes like her father and soft brown hair like her mother. She was so tiny that sometimes they were both scared to hold her. But they did just fine.
Elena’s skin was soft, smooth, fragile and here is where her middle name came from. Soft as cotton.
Nina and Ian were blessed to have this beautiful creature. She was such a precious angel. When Nina held her for the first time she just fell in love again. And that love she was feeling for her baby was growing every day. It was insane. Absolutely, mindblowingly amazing.
She and Ian were filled with love, joy, happiness, relief, but also filled with some worries too. It had to be one of the best feelings that this life could bring. Looking at the baby who they brought to life. It was just so amazing. Many tears were shed.
Nina felt a terrible pain on April 19th and her waters had gone. ‘This is it, this is it’ she thought and cried out for Ian. He came quickly and soon they were at the hospital. Ian had called their private doctor, who was going to degenerate the baby. As they opened the door back into the first-stage room, Nina had the biggest contraction pain out of the whole labor. Looking back, that was the only pain she could really remember. The others seemed to glide into each other.
She grabbed Ian’s shoulders, as her whole body went heavy. They had to wait a little and Ian brought Nina a sandwich. She didn’t feel at all hungry, but she knew she had to eat something and keep her strength up. After that, everything went very quickly.
Nina and Ian were wheeled to the surgery, and Nina was asked whether she wanted to be awake or not. All she knew was that she wanted Ian to be with her. Not shut out without knowing what was going on.
And everything happened they way she wanted it to. He was there beside her, holding her hand, as she was clutching his hardly. She was screaming and pushing and right there she felt like slapping and kissing Ian at the same time. She breathed deeply just like he told her to.
"Go on, baby, breath, push."
She could vividly remember the feeling of the baby’s head crowning and her body stretching.
"You’re almost there, you’re almost there."
Once the baby’s head was out, Nina was told to stop pushing while the obstetrician delivered the baby’s body. Stopping the pushing felt like such a difficult thing to do for Nina.
She flopped down, overcome with relief that it was all over.
"It’s a girl!" Ian screamed, joy filling his lungs. "I’m a dad!" His heart filled with love and his eyes with tears. The baby was beautiful, more perfect than he ever imagined or dreamed. It sounded so incredibly cheesy, but seeing his daughter for the first time was when he learned who he was, and what his purpose was. He thought he was never capable of loving someone else apart from his wife, but he was wrong. He loved that baby girl so much.
